×

Harrison Central nets a volleyball playoff win

CADIZ — Maddy Doty registered 12 kills, 11 digs, five aces and three blocks as the Harrison Central volleyball team swept Bellaire, 25-19, 29-27, 25-13, in an Ohio Division III sectional contest inside the John W. Stephenson Center Tuesday.

”It’s the first time in six years we’ve won our first tournament match,” an elated Huskies head coach Sarah Hawthorne said. ”So, this definitely means a lot.”

Harrison Central’s reward? A date at Tuscarawas Valley at 4 p.m. Saturday in a sectional title match. The Trojans (17-1) are the No. 2 seed in the district, behind only unbeaten Buckeye Trail (22-0).

”We’ll definitely have to work on our defense a little bit more,” Hawthorne noted. ”We’re playing a tough team, so it’s going to be a lot different. But I think the girls are ready to see what we can bring to the table.”

Against the Big Reds, the Huskies’ recipe for success was similar to what had been forged two other times this fall.

”Everyone says it’s always tough to beat a team three times,” Hawthorne said. ”We definitely didn’t play our game, but we came out with a win.

”I told (the team) after the match that a win’s a win.”

It was enough to send Bellaire home with a 7-13 mark.

”They just made fewer mistakes,” Big Reds head coach Kaye Sechrest said. ”Toward the end of the first two sets we made some mistakes that shouldn’t had been made. But it is what it is. (Harrison Central) capitalized on them. That’s what the difference was.”

It’s true.

The squads battled to a 19-19 tie in Set 1 before the Huskies reeled off the final six points of the set. Doty had three aces during the run.

Harrison Central jumped out to a 9-3 lead in Set 2, but the Big Reds battled back to tie things at 12-12. From there, things were nip-and-tuck with Bellaire grabbing a 19-18 advantage on a Cierra Davis point. The Huskies went up 22-20, but Bellaire came back to tie it. From there, both teams exchanged points until the Huskies prevailed.

The Big Reds went ahead 2-0 in Set 3, but once the Huskies went ahead 3-2, it was all Harrison Central.

Shelbie Mitchell added 28 assists and 11 digs for the Huskies, while Lyndsey Hennis had eight digs. Emily Moore had seven kills; Sarah Fink amassed eight digs and seven kills; Caitlin Emhoff had nine digs; and Katie Heavilin registered 23 digs.

”We’ve never really had one or two players lead the way for us,” Hawthorne said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today